Cape Verde - International trade

Cape Verde has little to export, and total export revenues were only $40 million in 2000. In 1994 the primary exports were foodstuffs (50 percent) and manufactured items (mostly leather goods and garments, 46 percent). Exports in 1994 went to Portugal (59 percent),

Trade (expressed in billions of US$): Cape Verde
	Exports	Imports
1975	.002	.040
1980	.004	.068
1985	.006	.084
1990	.006	.136
1995	.009	.252
1998	N/A	N/A
SOURCE : International Monetary Fund. International Financial Statistics Yearbook 1999.

Spain (14 percent), the United Kingdom (14 percent), and France (5 percent).

Cape Verde relies heavily on imports, which totaled approximately $250 million in 2000. Primary imports in 1994 were foodstuffs (28 percent), fuels (4 percent), machinery and transport equipment (37 percent), construction materials (16 percent), and other consumer manufactures. Imports come mainly from Portugal (36 percent), France (14 percent), Netherlands (8 percent), Japan (5 percent), Denmark (4 percent), Germany (4 percent), Sweden (4 percent), Belgium (3 percent), and Brazil (3 percent).

Cape Verde has recorded large merchandise trade deficits on a regular basis since independence, and the deficit worsened in the 1990s. Initiatives backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have lessened the trade gap, but it still remains high. The balance of trade deficit stood at $210 million in 210, which was over 30 percent of GDP.